Astronomy 1: Introduction to the Cosmos
Fall 2012
Lectures:
You
will be able to download some of my lecture notes and outlines from
here. Do
not expect to use these as a substitute for coming to class.
They
are my own lecture notes and do not contain most of the details you
will get by coming to class. They may be useful to you as an outline
of what was/will be covered in lecture.
Week 1 (Sept 28), Introduction (Our Place in the Cosmos) - Chapter 1 (1.1-1.4):
wk1.pptx
Week 2 (Oct 1, 3, 5), Motion of the Earth, Celestial Sphere -
Chapter 2 (2.2, 2.3, and part of 2.4), Chapter S1 (S1.1, S1.2):
wk2.ppt
Week 3 (Oct 8, 10, 12), Moon Phases, Eclipses; Kepler's Laws, Planetary Motion; Light; Atoms -
Chapter 2 (2.3-2.4), Chapter 3 (3.3), parts of Chapters 4 and 5:
wk3.ppt
Week 4 (Oct 15, 17, 19), Special and General Relativity; Quasars and AGNs; Black Holes, Hawking Radiation -
Chapter S2, Chapter S3, Chapter 18.3, Chapter 21.3:
wk4.ppt
Week 5 (Oct 22, 24; Midterm #1 exam on Oct 26), Review of weeks 1-4:
wk5.ppt
Week 6 (Oct 29, 31, Nov 2), Cosmology: Expansion, History and Fate of the Universe;
Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation - Chapters 20.3, 22.4, 23:
wk6.ppt
Week 7 (Nov 5, 7, 9), Early Universe; Milky Way galaxy; Galaxy Morphological
Types - Chapter 19.1, Chapter 20.1:
wk7.ppt
Week 8 (Nov 14; Nov 12 is Veteran's Day holiday; Midterm #2 exam on Nov 16), Review of weeks 6-7 (no new lecture notes this week)
Week 9 (Nov 19, No class on Nov 21 and 23 - Thanksgiving holiday), Large-Scale
Distribution of Galaxies; Birth of Stars; Evolution of Stars
- Chapter 22.3, Chapters 14, 15, 16, 17:
wk9.ppt
Week 10 (Nov 26, 28, 30), Birth, Evolution, and Death of Stars - Chapter 18:
wk10.ppt
Week 11 (Dec 3, 5, 7), Interstellar Medium; Dark Matter
- Chapter 19.2, Chapters 22:
wk11.ppt
I>clicker Quizzes:
Click
here
for the full set of i>clicker quizzes that we have done in class through the
term, with the correct answer indicated in each case.